I'm HUNGRY! Wait... are you really?

You know the feeling. You are hungry! Check the clock... it's not meal time... and maybe you just dated your snack a couple hours before...

You go to the kitchen and open the fridge: but WAIT!

Are you really Hungry?

We have to take a step back and look at what is hunger.
From a physiological meaning, hunger is something different from appetite, that is basically the lust to eat, in a psychological sense.
Hunger is a complex mechanism controlled by many factors, like the blood sugar levels, your habitus (!) and hormones.
In this orchestra of factors, the main character is the hypothalamus, that receive signals from the rest of the body, in form of hormones, the long distance messenger in our body.

So... who is sending those messages?
The gastro intestinal tract for exemple sends:
- Ghrelin (from an empty stomach): stimulates hunger
- Cholecystokinin (in the first tract of the intestine): decrease the hunger in response to fat entering the small intestine
- The YY Peptide (intestine): decrease hunger

The blood: stimulate hunger if there aren't enough carbs (sugars) in the blood
From fat tissue: Leptin (is relevant just because there are some medical conditions associated with a disfunction of this hormone, that can lead to overweight, but they are really rare)

Also hormone from the circadian system, that regulates your sleep cycles, can influence it. For example, if you don't sleep enough, your hunger will be increased.

Now we understand a little better how we work. It's again time to ask ourself: are we really hungry?
Things that can trick you into believing you are hungry when you are not are:

- Are you annoyed?
You could just be a little bored, and, yeah, you want to grab that cookie. And then another. Red flag!
Solution: engage in something AWAY from the kitchen, the best is to go out, do some shopping!

-"It's my usual time to eat, so I'm hungry"
Red flag again! You are hungry or not? If it's time to eat, but you are not REALLY hungry, wait a bit. Eating just when you are really hungry is a key for be lean!

- Watching TV:
It's know that we tend to eat when we watch TV. Don't! It's just an habit.
solution: drink something, like a coffee (better black without sugar or with stevia) or drink plenty of green tea. Some people say it boost the metabolism and keep you full... It's not proven, but I find it to be true!

- You are stressed
Yes Yes. That's a common one. But really, why would you make things worst?
solution: Instead of "punching" your stomach with unnecessary food, grab on of those "stress ball" to squeeze, or again, go for a walk, do a workout.

- Other people are eating
And so what?? The have your stomach? No. Whose is the body? Your.
solution: if you are forced to eat and sit at the table (which I find totally absurd) with other, grab some green tea, a coffee and let them know that you are following you body needs, not the needs of everybody else.

- I have a craving
Also popular! What do you crave the most? I always crave greasy food! If you crave some junk food and you are really hungry, eat it. Then stay light on the next meal.
solution: if you are not really hungry but it's just a craving, plan to eat your favorite food in the next meal. Expectations are always better then the actual act! Then drink something.

You may notice that I advice you to drink a lot: this will stretch the wall of your stomach, if you are not really hungry, will satisfy your sensation.
I find that warm beverages like teas and coffee are the best.

The problem with fake hunger is that, for example, if you are fake hungry at 17, you will eat, then your dinner will be messed up, because if you eat at 17 you want to eat at 19? I don't think, so you will be likely to have Night Hunger, that's the worst for your body, because in the night your metabolism is super low, and you will store everything you eat. Not funny!

Now, every time you go to the fridge, ask yourself if it's a Fake or a True Hunger!